If you don’t follow me on social media, you might have missed the cover for book 2 in the Detective by Day mysteries. Thought I’d share the cover and a few insights…
My publisher is no joke when it comes to coming up with the perfect covers for their series. Unlike some publishers, the cover is on the first things they work on. My editor first emailed me about it back in July, when what would be come Hollywood Ending was due.
My response: In terms of cover ideas, obviously I love having Dayna as the centerpiece of a location. The book takes place during Awards Season in Hollywood and the [redacted. Sorry no spoilers!]. So maybe she can be on an awards show red carpet?
I heard from my editor, Terri, about a month later with two options for a cover design. Both featured a red carpet but had slight differences like one had a door at the end of the carpet and Dayna was facing in different directions in each. They also used real life actress as placeholders.
I immediately emailed them which one I liked. Luckily, Terri agreed with me.
Up next was the dress. Because anyone who’s worked in Hollywood or watched a red carpet show on E! knows the dress is everything. They sent me a page full of about eight dress options, including this gorgeous number that Taraj P. Henson wore at this year’s Oscars. We also discussed dress color.
Once the dress silhouette and color was decided, I was told that they were going to contact the illustrator, who was the same guy who did Hollywood Homicide. I didn’t hear much but that was okay. I had my edits to keep me busy.
Finally, earlier this month I got the email! Attached was my cover. I couldn’t believe how glamorous they made Dayna look and how well the theme of the book. We did make a couple of tweaks. For the first book’s cover, I was obsessed with her eyebrows. With this one, I was obsessed with her eyes. After a quick tweak (where they also fixed her eyebrows without me even saying anything lol), we were good to go!
Time Out: I’m working on the general idea for book three and I kinda hate to admit it but I’m already trying to envision covers for it. I haven’t written one single word of the book yet I have a cover idea for it. Time In.
Kristopher at Bolo Books was nice enough to do a reveal for me on one day’s notice! And here it is:
The book’s description:
Tinseltown’s awards season is in full swing, and everyone is obsessed with dressing up, scoring free swag, and getting invited to the biggest awards shows of the year. But when popular Silver Sphere Awards publicist Lyla Davis is killed during a botched ATM robbery, the celebratory mood comes to an abrupt halt.
Dayna Anderson—an actress turned apprentice private investigator—uncovers the killer almost immediately. Unfortunately, what starts as an open-and-shut case turns out to be anything but. Lyla’s murder was no robbery-gone-wrong. Someone hired the gunman to kill her. Diving back into the investigation, Dayna gets a backstage look at the worlds of gossip blogging, Hollywood royalty, and one of entertainment’s most respected awards shows—all while trying to avoid her own Hollywood ending.
So what do you think? Do you love it as much as I do? Does Dayna remind you of anyone on this one? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
And if you’d like to pre-order Hollywood Ending, it’s up on Amazon!
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